MOTC considers varied freeway fares for 228

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday said that different freeway fares might be applied during the upcoming 228 Memorial holidays.

According to the MOTC, there will be three days off for the upcoming 228 Memorial holidays and officials will refer to the transportation plan for the Chinese New Year holidays to apply various fares for using different sections of freeways.

The National Freeway Bureau (NFB) said that they will come up with the 228 Memorial holidays transportation plan and report it to Transportation Minister Yeh Kuang-shih (葉匡時) on Feb. 12.

The MOTC said that once officials finalize the freeway transportation plan, the ministry will make the details public as soon as possible.

Wang Mu-heng of the MOTC said that the current idea regarding the transportation plan is to carry out the freeway free-of-charge measure at night, as well as ramp control and various fares for using different sections of freeways during the holidays, but the plan has not been finalized yet.

“The 228 Memorial holidays are not as long as the Chinese New Year holiday, and the purposes of people traveling on freeways will not be the same as well,” said Wang.

According to Wang, people travel shorter distances during the 228 Memorial holidays, so the MOTC estimates that the traffic flow would not be as great as the flow during Chinese New Year holidays.

“Drivers who traveled the Hsinchu and Yenchao section on National Highway No. 3 received 20-percent off during the Chinese New Year holidays, which helped relieve traffic congestion,” said Wang. “Therefore, we will put the same measure into consideration for the upcoming holidays.”

Wang said that the 228 Memorial holidays will only last three days, and officials predictes that the weather will be one of the major factors to affect people's decision on whether or not to hit the roads as well as the number of tourists visiting amusement parks and recreation areas.

According to the NFB, the average traffic flow on freeways daily during a three consecutive holidays is about 1.9 million to 2.4 million vehicles.